Otters blank Greyhounds again, take 3-0 series lead

Erie Otters goalie Devin Williams makes a save on Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds center David Miller during the second period of Game 3 of the OHL Western Conference Semi Finals at Erie Insurance Arena on April 7. Defending on the play is Otters' defenceman Troy Donnay. JACK HANRAHAN/ERIE TIMES-NEWS

"I'd like to think that," Williams said after a 2-0 Game 3 win Monday night in front of 4,168 fans at Erie Insurance Arena, which gave the Otters a 3-0 series lead and a chance to secure a spot in the conference finals for the first time since the franchise's 2002 OHL title season.

"I'm just doing my job. I'm just using the ability God gave me here. I'm just playing my game," said Williams, who stopped all 29 shots he faced to improve his series totals to 88 saves on 89 shots.

Coupled with his play against Saginaw in the first round, he has a 7-0-1 record, 1.90 goals-against average, .934 save percentage and two shutouts.

He surpassed Josh Disher's franchise playoff record of 101 minutes without a goal on the way to blanking the Greyhounds for a second straight time. Williams, the first goaltender in Otters history with two playoff shutouts, will take a shutout streak of 123:46 into a potentially series-clinching Game 4 today at 7 p.m. at EIA.

"He feels confidence," head coach Kris Knoblauch said of Williams. "The team is playing good defense in front of him -- letting him see the outside shots, tying up sticks. Where goals are usually scored, the defense are doing a good job taking care of those. I think it's just confidence in the defensemen in front of him."

Williams praised the overall team defense for once again limiting the Greyhounds' scoring chances and taking care of rebounds when they created those chances.

The Otters have allowed one goal in the series, as well as held one of the league's most potent power plays to no goals on 15 chances -- including a 5-on-3 opportunity for 1:30 early in the second period of what was a 1-0 game. The Otters followed stay-at-home defenseman Troy Donnay's rare goal at the 6:13 mark -- he scored two goals in 66 regular-season games this season -- with stifling play on a penalty kill led by captain Connor Brown. Erie allowed only one shot on goal during that game-changing sequence.

"Our entire team is just playing well-rounded defense," Donnay said. "I think that contributes even to the offense. When they don't have a lot of opportunities, we just get more."

The Otters' workmanlike effort on defense kept that one-goal lead intact while the offense tried to break through goaltender Matt Murray (29 saves) and a stubborn Greyhounds defense for an insurance goal. The offense finally made that happen with 1:20 left in the game, as Connor McDavid found Andre Burakovsky breaking free for his seventh goal of the postseason and first point since the Saginaw series. Williams and the defense took care of the rest. But did this win end any hope of the Greyhounds rallying in this series?

"Hopefully, yeah," Donnay said. "We don't want to give them an inch. Whatever we can take from them, we will."

- News and notes: Brendan Gaunce assisted on Donnay's goal to extend his point streak to six games. He has points in seven of eight playoff games. ... Greyhounds defenseman Darnell Nurse, an Edmonton Oilers' first-round pick, has no points and a minus-5 rating in the series. ... Windsor winger Josh Ho-Sang received a 15-game suspension for a push from behind that sent London defenseman Zach Bell awkwardly into the boards in the final game of that first-round series last week. Bell suffered a season-ending broken leg. Ho-Sang's suspension will begin at the start of next season. ... McDavid was considered for OHL player of the week honors after totaling two goals and two assists in two wins against the Greyhounds. Oshawa goaltender Daniel Altshuller earned the award for two shutout wins against Peterborough.

VICTOR FERNANDES can be reached at 870-1716 or by e-mail. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/goeriehockey. Read the Shootout hockey blog at GoErie.com/blogs/shootout and post comments.